Athens release Cabinet minutes from 20 July 1974

Greek 'Cyprus case files' available to the public later this year

The Greek parliament has made a part of historical document from its “Cyprus case files” publicly available on Friday, releasing the minutes of a Cabinet meeting on 20 July 1974.

The document released on Friday included minutes from a Cabinet meeting in Athens on 20 July 1974, which called for general mobilization of the armed forces due to the Turkish military invasion.

Other details in the files made reference to a telegram on suspicious movement of military troops in northern Greece in March of that year, just before scheduled elections and prior to a military coup that took place in Cyprus on July 15.

There are also references on a restriction that was to be imposed on popular Greek singer and political activist Melina Mercouri’s music albums.

The Speaker of the Hellenic Parliemant, Nikos Voutsis, told CNA News Agency that the actual content of the Cyprus case files will be made available to the public later in the Fall this year, either in two or four volume publications.

Each publication is expected to have between 500 and 600 pages, with a total of 32 volumes expected to be released.

Cyprus MPs have been calling on Greece at different times to release the secret documents but little debate of substance had taken place over the decades.